New Belgium Brewing will donate $1 million to CSU

The brewery will donate $1 million to the Colorado State University fermentation science and technology program to renovate facilities.

Kim Jordan, CEO and co-founder of New Belgium Brewing, announced earlier this month that she will be donating $500,000 personally to the program. This will be accompanied by another $500,000 over the next five years from New Belgium’s philanthropy wing.

The funds will be used to build a new laboratory in the Gifford building, scheduled to be complete August 2015.

Jeff Callaway, the director of industry outreach for the fermentation and science technology program, said this is a good investment for the future of the program.

“They’ve named a lab the New Belgium Fermentation Science and Technology Laboratory, which includes our pilot brewery,” Callaway said. “It includes a chemistry and microbiology analytical lab, a small kitchen, as well as a sensory and multipurpose meeting room.”

Once the lab is built, any money left over will be used to help sustain the program, according to Mike Pagliassotti, head of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

“I’m pleased by receiving the gift,” Pagliassotti said. “I think it demonstrates that they believe our program is moving in the right direction, and it’s going to help us to build a laboratory that’s going to allow us to train our students in the way we want to.”

CSU launched the fermentation science and technology undergraduate degree program August 2013. The major started with 17 students in its first semester, and now there are 76 students enrolled.

“I’m one of the first ones to graduate with the fermentation science degree, and I was able to see a lot of the program in its early stages,” said Shae Maloney, a senior studying fermentation and science technology. “It will be good for the program to evolve and live up to its potential and let it grow into something better than it is right now.”

The degree is designed to educate students in the science and art of fermenting foods and beverages, according to the website.

“Since we share the same community and share a lot of the same goals and visions, it was a natural fit for them to partner with us to make the program the best that it can be,” Callaway said.